


Stealing Our Place in the Sun

by CrimsonAdri



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Not all of them, OCs have no knowledge of game events, Period-Typical Racism, Period-Typical Sexism, Siblings, Slow Burn, Time Travel, but most, follows game events, tags to be added as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-05-19 08:24:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19353178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrimsonAdri/pseuds/CrimsonAdri
Summary: They had gotten on the train in Detroit, Michigan at 9:45am on May 11th 2019.They got off in Valentine, New Hanover at 12:15pm on May 11th 1899.-Three siblings are sent back in time, into the fictional universe of Red Dead Redemption 2.(similar to my Hobbit fic "We've Believers, I Believe Tonight")Pairing Undecided but leaning towards either Micah x OC OR Kieran x OC big jump I know. (Maybe Arthur x OC)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a line from “It Has Begun” by Starset without the “own” in it. I tend to use song lyrics as fic titles a lot. I made a GMV of this song with RDR2 so whenever I hear it I think RDR2.

They had gotten on the train in Detroit, Michigan at 9:45am on May 11th 2019. 

They’re mother saw them off, making sure they knew their grandmother’s address and that they each had their tickets. Lynnette holding her baby sister as their mother gave them each a kiss on the forehead before they boarded.  With two backpacks and two medium sized suitcases, the three O’Callaghan siblings made their way down the aisle of the train car to their seats. 

Lynnette leading with Lilly on her hip; the youngest was holding onto the eldest’s long brown hair with one hand and a stuffed rabbit with the other, her own blonde curls bouncing as they went down the line. Behind them was Max, or Maximilian, the only boy just on the cusp of becoming a teenager, for once without his nose in a game. The three found their seats and stowed their cases and bags under them before sitting, Lilly on Lynnette’s lap by the window and Max beside her.

The boy let out the nth sigh of the day and Lynnette turned to him. 

“Why don’t you play your game?” she suggested.

“Don’t feel like it,” he mumbled before letting out another sigh.

“It’s only for a week,” she reminded him. 

“This isn’t how I wanted to spend my vacation. Why take me out of school if they’re just going to take the whole week as their honeymoon?” Max grumbled as he slumped in the seat. “She didn’t take a week with dad.”

“How would  _ you  _ know?  _ I _ wasn’t even born yet,” Lynnette said with a slight scoff. “And it’s to  _ make up _ for taking a week in… Tahiti or wherever they’re going. Mom wasn’t just going to leave you alone while I visit Nana.”

“I would’ve been fine.”

“You would’ve had to take care of Lilly,” she pointed out before letting out another scoff. “Max, you can barely keep your room clean. She’d drown in dirty socks.” Max frowned as he glanced at the two-year-old looking out the window with a bunny ear in her mouth. 

“Why’d she have to marry him?” he asked, his voice quiet. 

“Because she loves him.”

“She loved dad!” he shouted suddenly.

“Max,  _ please… _ ” Lynnette looked around and gave a few awkward smiles to the other passengers who’d looked over. She started to bounce Lilly on her knee when the baby started to frown at the loudness.

“I don’t like him,” Max’s voice sounded on the verge of breaking. Lynnette put an arm around him and he moved into her side.

“I know.”

“I still miss dad.”

“I know.” Lynnette put a hand on the back of his head, stroking his short brown hair slowly. He lifted his head slightly to glare at the little blonde girl who was back to looking out the window without a care in the world.

“This wouldn’t be happening if  _ she  _ wasn’t here,” he muttered.

“That’s not true, Max, and you know it.”

“Still don’t see why we have to bring her with us. Nana’s not  _ her  _ grandma. She’s  _ ours _ . They should’ve taken her with them.”

“Whether you like it or not she’s our sister. That means Nana  _ is  _ her grandma.” She heard him huff. “Just think, while Nana’s taking care of Lilly we can go out and do whatever you want, hows that sound? Movies, comic book store, you name it.” Max lifted his head to look at her.

“Just us?” he asked. “You promise.”

“I promise,” she said, giving him a smile. He grinned back before laying his head against her shoulder. Lynnette’s smile faded slightly and she leaned her head back against the seat’s headrest as she turned to look out the window. They had gotten on the train in Detroit, Michigan at 9:45am on May 11th 2019.

They got off in Valentine, New Hanover at 12:15am on May 11th 1899.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was the prologue, lots of exposition about the family situation, a bit on their looks but I’ll get more into looks and other details in the next chapter. I really wanted to start and end the chapter the way i did though “Valentine, New Hanover” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue like “Detroit, Michigan” does so I hope it wasn’t… weird to read?


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm posting this on tumblr as well the chapters won't be super long.

Lynnette was startled awake by a loud train whistle. Her head shot up and she looked around, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. Lilly let out a little whine against her shoulder at being woken by the harsh sound. The whistle sounded again and it was then she realized how different it sounded than the one of the train they’d gotten onto. She turned to Max and shook him awake; the boy could sleep through anything.

“Wha-What? Are we there?” he asked as he startled awake, looking around. “Where is everybod-” Max did a double take at  _ everything  _ around them. “Lynn… this isn’t our train,” he whispered.

“I know,” she whispered back. 

“How did we…” He leaned down and saw their suitcases were still there and their bags were still at their feet. 

“Come on,” Lynnette said as she stood, grabbing her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder, holding Lilly to her hip. The blonde girl was still a bit fussy at having a train whistle wake her and squirmed in her arms. Lynnette grabbed the girls rabbit that had fallen beside them on the seat and she immediately calmed down.

“What?”

“We’re getting off.” Lynnette grabbed her case from under the seat, keeping a hold on Lilly who was blissfully unaware of her siblings concerns; the girl giggled as Lynnette unintentionally rocked her. “We’re at a station.”

“I know but why?” Max looked up at her as if she were crazy.

“ _ Why _ ? Because we need to know where we are... and how we got on a different train,” she muttered.

“That just doesn’t happen though,” he protested as he pulled on his backpack and grabbed his case. The two moved towards the end of the train car and looked out. “I feel like we’re in  _ Back To The Future 3 _ ,” Max commented as they stepped off the train and onto the wooden platform.

“Well we’re not," Lynnette stated but as she looked around to see the farm animals, lack of paved roads, and seeing absolutely no cars and a lot of horses added to her confusion and concerns.  "This is just… probably a town that… really likes the wild west aesthetic.” 

“Aesthetic is one thing but this place smells like horsesh-”

“ _ Max _ ,” she snapped before letting out a sigh as she adjusted her hold on Lilly.

“Where the heck is Valentine?”

“What?” Lynnette looked down at him. He rolled his eyes and pointed up at the sign on the building. 

_ Valentine Station _

“I… I don’t know,” Lynnette answered as her eyebrows came together. Max shook his head and fished his phone out of his jeans. 

"I don't have any service," he complained before shoving it back in his pocket.

"What?" Lynnette put down the suitcase she was holding and took out her own phone. "No bars, no wifi," she muttered. 

"Are we in one of those Amish places?" Max asked with a grimace. “I can’t do no wifi, Lynn.” The train whistle sounded behind them making them jump and turn to see it start pulling away. "There goes our ride," Max muttered. 

"Come on, let's ask someone inside." Lynnette picked up her suitcase and the two headed inside. The man behind the ticket counter turned as they walked in and his eyes widened as his eyebrows shot up. 

"Ho-Howdy Miss." He seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at her. Lynnette looked down at herself and frowned. There was nothing wrong with what she was wearing; a plain black skater skirt and cropped, striped top with black ankle boots that made her look two inches taller than her normal 5’5”, sure  _ here  _ she looked out of place but that wasn’t  _ her  _ fault.

“Howdy…” Lynnette tried, having probably only said the word maybe twice in her life. “I was wondering if you could help us? We seem to have gotten on the wrong train.” The man blinked upon hearing her accent. 

As she spoke to the man, Max started to wander around the small building. A few people sitting on benches nearby watched him and he openly gave them a weird look as he passed them. He walked up to a large chalkboard labeled ‘Valentine Rail Bulletin’. Each name he read confused him more and more. They’d been to Texas before to see their grandmother and he knew these places being listed were  _ nowhere  _ near Texas. He wasn’t even sure what state they were in. Max walked passed the bulletin and stopped in front of another large board. This one had a map but of where he didn’t know. He made his way back to his sister and pulled on her arm.

“Lynn!” he hissed urgently.

“What?” She looked at him in alarm as he pulled her over to the map; the man in the booth watched them in confusion. Lynnette scanned the map, the frown on her face getting deeper with every second. “Wait...that...that’s not right…” She desperately looked over the map looking for something that looked familiar, anything.

“That’s not a river,” Max whispered as he pointed to a large river on the map. “I know I didn’t exactly ace geography stuff but there is no  _ Lannahechee River _ .”

“Okay, don’t panic,” Lynnette said quietly. “Don’t panic.”

“I’m... not panicking,” Max said as he watched his sister take a few deep breaths. Lynnette walked back over to the counter to grab her suitcase, the man watching her the entire time. She turned back to him. “Do you know where we could get something to eat?” she asked with the best polite smile she could manage at the moment. 

“Sure, down the road there, passed all them houses, turn at the Sheriff’s is Smithfield’s and Worth’s General Store.”

“Thank you.” She turned and walked back over to Max who was watching her as if she were a bomb that could go off at any moment.

“Uh…”

“We’re going to go get something to eat, then... _ try _ and think of this logically.”

“Alright…” Max muttered with a nod as he followed her out of the station. “You uh… you got money, right?”

* * *

“The hell’s credit?” The store owner asked.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Lynnette mumbled as she put her wallet away. She made her way outside the store where Max and Lilly were waiting on a bench by their luggage. The little girl kicking her feet as she chewed on the ear of her rabbit.

“Well?” Max asked as he looked up.

“Nope.” She sat down beside them. Lilly reached for her and Lynnette absentmindedly let the girl grab onto her hand as she stared ahead.

“What are we gonna do?”

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted. The impossibility of it all was swirling around in her mind so loud she almost didn’t hear the drunken man that approached them, almost falling in front of them.

“How much you cost?” he slurred.

“Excuse me?” Lynnette turned her head slowly to look at him.

“I can pay,” he went on. “How much?” She stood up with a humorless chuckle.

“I  _ know  _ you’re not talking to  _ me _ ,” she said sharply. The man chuckled and reached out to grab at her but she kicked him swiftly in the shin. He fell with a cry and tumbled off the small porch of the store.

“Hey! You there!” Lynnette looked up and saw a man approaching. A man with a star on his chest.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she muttered. Max, meanwhile, watched with wide eyes. A smile was on his face until he saw the second man approaching.

“Ma’am, I’m gonna need you to come with me,” the sheriff said as he stopped, putting his hands on his belt. He gave her a once over then kept his eyes on her face.

“What? Why?” she snapped. The sheriff gestured to the man, who was now unconscious in the mud. “He thought I was a whore!”

“Well…” the sheriff cleared his throat. “Your attire don’t exactly do much to... “ he cleared his throat again.

“Oh boy,” Max muttered.

“My  _ attire _ ? My attire doesn’t give a man the right to touch me!”

“Now ma’am, I’m going to need you to just come with me,” the man tried again. 

“No. I did nothing wrong,” Lynnette stated as she crossed her arms. “I kicked him but I was defending myself.” The man let out a sigh. 

“Alright,” he said and walked closer. 

“Don’t you touch me, I  _ will  _ kick you too.” Lynnette held up a hand to stop him.

“Now you’re threatening me?” The sheriff shook his head, clearly not prepared to deal with this today.

“Lynn,  _ please  _ don’t get arrested,” Max groaned. 

“She’s just coming with me to cool off in a cell for an hour or two, son, no need to worry,” the man assured him but Max was already wincing, preparing his ears.

“ _ Cool off _ ?” Lynnette shrieked. “Get your hands off me!” Max let out another sigh as the sheriff started to pull her away. He picked up Lilly with a bit of difficulty and went down the small steps before he started to follow after them but then frowned at the little girl who was making it difficult to hold her by squirming. He walked up to the back of a carriage, full of supplies but with no driver in sight, that was parked in front of the general store and put her on the back.

“Stay here. Got it? Don’t. Move." He turned and ran after his sister and the man who were almost to the Sheriff’s. "Sir! Sir wait!" The sheriff turned reluctantly. "We're not from around here. My sister and I are lost and she's stressed cause our Nana is on her deathbed are we might not get there in time to see her go. She’s the only family we have left. Please sir. Have a heart." Lynnette stared at her brother as he turned on the waterworks. The sheriff hesitated then let out a sigh. 

"I am sorry to hear that.” He was quiet for a moment as he looked between the two. “Now as long as ya promise not to knock anyone else out, I'll get you a map and you can be on your way."

"As long as no one tries to touch me or  _ buy me _ again," Lynnette added with a slight glare.

"Might I suggest, and don't get upset again, a change of clothes?" Lynnette resistant the urge to say what she wanted to as Max spoke.

“Thank you, sir!” he said loud enough interrupt anything Lynnette might say. She turned to Max and froze.

"Max, where is Lilly?" she asked. Max rolled his eyes.

" _ Relax _ , I left her over…" He turned and pointed to where the wagon  _ was _ . A nervous chuckle came out as he turned to face the older girl. "Uh, okay, now don't freak out."


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: None

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Alright, here we go with Chapter 2. Lemme know what you guys think ^_^ We get to see some familiar faces in this one. I try my best to write out the accents of the characters but I don’t always get it just right, hopefully you can still hear the words in their voices despite my failed efforts ^_^

“Arthur! Can you help me unload all this?” Pearson asked as he got down off the supplies wagon and started to unhook the horses.

“Sure thing, Mr. Pearson,” Arthur replied as he stood from where he sat at the table in the center of camp. He walked around to the back of the wagon but stopped before he took anything off. “Uh, Pearson?”

“Yeah?” 

“Are you aware of the _little girl_ in the back'a yer wagon?” he asked. The larger man came around back to see the small blonde girl waking up from the nap she’d been taking. “How’d you _miss_ her?” Arthur held his hand out to motion to the girl. She was in a _bright_ yellow dress with a pink bow. Her little fist rubbed her eye as the other held onto the ear of her stuffed rabbit she had been using as a pillow.

“Well, now she wasn’t there when I left,” Pearson insisted. Arthur let out a sigh and shook his head. 

“C’mere, let’s get you down from there.” He motioned her forwards with both hands extended. She scooted to the edge of the wagon. Arthur hooked his hands under her arms and gently lifted her up of the edge of the wagon. She playfully kicked her legs a bit before he placed her so she was standing on the ground; she stared up at him, following him with her head as he knelt down in front of her. “Now what’s yer name?”

“Wiwy,” she replied in a small voice as she held her rabbit to her chest. Arthur blinked.

“What?”

"Wiwy!" she repeated, louder than she needed, making Arthur and Pearson wince.

“I believe she’s trying to say _Lilly_.” The two men looked over as Dutch approached them. “Anyone care to explain?” he looked between the two but his eyes settled on Arthur.

“Uh, it was an accident, I swear, I didn’t know she was back there. She wasn’t there when I loaded the last crate,” Pearson explained. “I would’ve seen her!” Dutch held up a hand to calm the man.

“I believe you, Mr. Pearson. Now, Lilly,” he looked down at the child with a smile. She smiled back up at him, doing a little half rock in place. “Where are your parents, hun?”

“Da moon,” the little girl answered with a bigger smile. The three men looked at each other for a moment in silence.

“Let’s start with Valentine, Arthur, you ride in and see if anyone’s looking for her,” Dutch said as the younger man stood up with a nod.

“Alright.” He headed towards his horse. Lilly turned to watch him walk away with a small frown.

“In the meantime, Lilly will stay here. I’ll see if maybe Abigail can watch her for now.” Dutch picked up the girl, who giggled the whole way, and sat her on his hip. “Miss Roberts!”

🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻☀️🌻☀️ 🌻

“How could you just leave her _by herself_?” Lynnette snapped as she and Max walked through town, lugging their bags with them.

“I was trying to help you!”

“She’s only two years old, Max!” Lynnette practically screamed. “There’re horses _everywhere_ what if she got hurt?”

“I’m sorry! How many times do you want me to say it?”

“Until we find her!” 

They asked everyone they came across if they’d seen a little blonde girl but no one had. Most people gave them weird looks and probably wondered if Lynnette had been drinking as her eyes were slightly red from crying, as well as her face from running around. She was close to giving up and having a full break down when a man approached them.

“Ya lost yer daughter Miss?” he asked. She turned to face him and if she wasn’t so concerned for Lilly’s safety, she would’ve taken the time to appreciate his looks. He on the other hand had no issues looking her over, his eyebrows raised high as he took in what _exactly_ she was wearing. If his face wasn't already a bit sunburned his cheeks would be visibly glowing.

“Our sister, she's like two feet tall,” Lynnette started as she held her hand up to show the height beside her. “long blonde hair in pigtails-”

“She uh... happen to carry a little toy rabbit?”

“Yes! Have you seen her?”

“Yup.” He nodded. “She's back at our camp. Was on the back’a one’a our wagons,” he explained with a slightly amused smile.

"That'd be my bad," Max admitted raising a hand with a sheepish smile.

"But she's okay?" Lynnette asked.

"She’s fine. Last I saw she was playin’ with a boy we got there; few years older than her, I reckon."

“Oh thank god.” Lynnette let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

“I'll bring ‘er back to ya. Where abouts do y'all live.”

“We don't live here,” Lynnette said and lifted her suitcase a bit. He nodded.

“We’re lost; we don't know how we got here. We fell asleep on the train," Max told him bluntly. Lynnette turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“ _Max_.”

“What? We did!” he shot back. Arthur looked between the two and held up a hand before they could start to argue any further.

“First things first, let’s get you back with yer sister then ya can figure out where yer goin’ from there. You'll have to come back with me.” He turned and started to walk to his horse, the two followed with their bags. “Gotta leave those here,” he pointed out without turning around. “Why don’t you go get a room and I’ll take yer sister to yer other sister,” he suggested with a glance at Max as he got up onto the horse.

“You want me to leave him _by himself_?” Lynnette asked in disbelief.

“Kids'not a baby,” Arthur said with a frown.

“He's _12.”_

“I’m almost 13!” Max protested.

“I’m not leaving him alone here,” Lynnette reiterated, ignoring Max.

“Well, then yer leavin’ yer luggage cause mah horse ain’t carryin’ all that.”

“Why don’t we just get a room, put the bags in there then _both_ go?” Max suggested.

“Because, Max, we don’t have any money,” Lynnette hissed quickly as she turned to him.

“Yeah we do, you have plenty! You have your credit ...cards...oh,” he trailed off with a sheepish smile.

“Yeah _oh_.”

“Credit cards?” Arthur muttered as he looked between the two. He let out a sigh. “Look,” The two turned to him. “ _I’ll_ pay for a room.”

“Why would you do that for us?” Lynnette asked with a slight frown. “You just met us.”

“Cause ya obviously need the help,” he said.

“Alright… thank you. I don’t know when I can pay you back.” He shook his head as he held up a hand.

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get you two ta yer sister.” He reached into his bag then handed Max a dollar. “Here, go get a room, I’ll wait here.” He motioned to the hotel.

“A dollar?” Max asked before he looked up at him. 

“Yeah, that’s what a room costs,” Arthur said motioning to the hotel again. Max looked at his sister then back up at the cowboy.

“A _dollar_?”

“Yeah! Yer ears work don’t they, boah?”

“Where we’re from it would’ve been a lot more… expensive,” Lynnette explained. The man scoffed. 

“I don’t wanna go there,” he muttered. “Go on.” He motioned for them to go again and they hurried inside with their bags.

When they returned Arthur helped Max on in front of him before turning to Lynnette who simply stood there with her arms crossed.

“And how exactly am _I_ going to fit?” she asked. Arthur twisted in his seat and patted the horse’s behind.

“Righ’ here, hop on,” he said with a smirk.

“Very funny. How exactly do I do that without giving everyone a show?” she asked as she motioned down to her skirt and heels.

“Little late for that,” Arthur muttered as he looked down at them, following the path of her legs to the heels, before he looked back to her face to see her scowl. He didn’t even try to hide his eye roll as he held down an arm to her. She hesitantly reached out her own arm as she stepped closer. Lynnette resisted the urge to let out an actual squeak as he managed to lift her up and onto the back of the horse so she was sitting side saddle on the horse’s rear. She shifted herself and clamped her legs together before smoothing out her skirt. Arthur clicked his tongue and pulled the reins for his horse to turn. Lynnette grabbed the back of his coat. “I suggest ya hold on a bit tighter than that.”

 ...  
  
“So, what’re yer names?” Arthur asked. It wasn’t that long of a ride to camp but it was long enough that silence wasn’t something he wanted to deal with.

“I’m Max!” the boy said as he looked back at him with a grin. Arthur chuckled at his enthusiasm. 

“And you?” He turned his head slightly.

“Lynnette O’Callaghan,” she answered.

“O’Callaghan?” Arthur asked.

“ _Yeah?_ ”

“You two Irish?”

“Is… that a problem?”

“No, not really. Just don’t sound Irish is all.”

“We’re not _from_ Ireland,” Max told him. “Our grandparents are. On our mother’s side.”

“Alrigh’, didn’t mean nothin’ by it. And uh, yer sister’s name?”

“Lilly,” Max answered. He nodded. “And she’s our _half_ sister.”

“ _Max_ ,” Lynnette scolded with a sigh.

“What?” he whined. Lynnette let out another smaller sigh and thankfully Arthur didn’t say anything after that.

The rest of the ride was filled with an almost awkward silence, the one Arthur had been trying to avoid. It was only awkward to him however as the two siblings were too preoccupied with observing their surroundings.

...

When they arrived at camp, Bill was on watch and heard them before he saw them.

“Who’s there?” he called out as he adjusted his grip on his weapon.

“It’s me! Arthur!” As they rode closer Bill was able to see the two extra people on Arthur’s mare.

“Who’re they?” 

“The girl’s family,” Arthur answered, and rode passed the man before he could say another word. Though it didn’t look like Bill was going to say much considering his mouth fell open at the sight of Lynnette on the back, more specifically her legs.

They entered the camp and moved past a bunch of horses that were grazing. Kieran was busy brushing his horse, Branwen, when he heard them. He turned to greet Arthur and paused with his mouth open, very similar to Bill’s. Lynnette had her eyes forward, looking for Lilly, and didn't notice the man's face turn a bright pink as he dropped the horse brush he had been holding. They came to a stop in front of a hitching post and Lynnette slid off the back of the horse the moment she saw the familiar head of golden locks. She stumbled slightly on her landing, not used to such a drop in heels, no matter how thick they were, but managed to run over.

“Lilly!” Lynnette scooped the girl into her arms and let out a breath of relief. She didn’t notice everyone in the camp was watching, staring at her, from their various places around camp.

“You must be her mother,” Dutch said as he approached with a smile, keeping his eyes politely up at her face level. “Dutch Van Der Linde.”

“Lynnette O’Callaghan _._ I’m her _sister_ , actually. That’s our brother Max,” she added as she nodded towards where Max was being helped off the horse by Arthur.

“You look nothin’ alike,” Uncle pointed out, looking between the two girls.

“She’s our _half_ sister. Our mother remarried,” Max explained as he walked over while Arthur hitched his horse.

“Do you have to tell people everything?” Lynnette asked as she turned to glare at Max. He simply shrugged, not bothered by her annoyance towards him. “Thank you… all,” she spoke as she noticed just how many eyes were on them. “for looking after her but… we have to be going.”

“Where to exactly?” Arthur asked as he lit a cigarette, slowly walking over. “That room’s only for one night, ya know.” Lynnette looked between her siblings as she bit her lip. “Dutch, can I speak to you a moment?” Arthur asked as he took the lit cigarette from his lips.

“Of course. Why don’t the three of you stay a while, rest. Arthur will take you back to Valentine, before sunset, don’t worry,” Dutch said with an overly friendly smile before the two walked away to his tent.

Lilly started to struggle in Lynnette’s arms and the woman put her down but held onto her hand. The young girl started to whine as she tried to walk away.

“Stay with me, Lil.” The girl looked up and looked like she was going to start crying. Lucky she didn’t get the chance to as the person she wanted to go to came over to them. 

“Hello, I’m Jack,” Jack said as he looked up at Lynnette with a smile. “Can Lilly come and play?” Lynnette blinked down at the little boy before looking at Lilly who was pouting up at her, the girl had been gifted with the perfect set of brown puppy dog eyes to use against her. 

“I-I...I guess,” she relented with a nod and let go of Lilly’s hand. 

“You wanna play too?” Jack asked as he looked up at Max. The older boy frowned in confusion and shook his head. “Okay then!” The little girl made a happy sound as she and Jack ran off. 

“He’s never played with children his age.” Lynnette turned to see a dark haired woman walk up to her. “I’m his mother, Abigail.”

“I’m Lilly’s sister, Lynnette.”

“Where’re yer parents? She tol’ anyone who asked they were…  on the moon?” Lynnette started to laugh and Abigail joined her with a smaller laugh of her own.

“Our parents...our mother is on her honeymoon with our stepfather. _Her_ father.” 

“I see.” Abigail nodded. “If ya don’ mind me askin’… yer clothes…”

“Yeah, uh. Where we’re from this is actually totally normal.” Abigail’s eyebrows shot up. “I’ve seen women walking around in less.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Had I known people dressed so differently, I wouldn’t have worn this.” She let out a small chuckle. “I'm sure I’ve got some jeans in my luggage though so it’ll be okay.” This didn’t seem to change the shocked look on Abigail’s face.

“Miss... O’Callaghan, was it?” Dutch asked as he and Arthur walked over.

“Just Lynn or Lynnette is fine,” she answered with a nod.

“Lynnette,” he repeated with a smile. “Now, we’re not good people, but we’re not as bad as the people that are out there.” He pointed out towards the edge of camp. “We rob and we kill but we only rob those who deserve robbin’ and kill those who deserve killin’. You’ll all be safer here than out there. You’ve only been here a short while, I know, but we’re lucky nothing happened to you while you were out there.” He pointed again. “You’ll be free to leave whenever you see fit. Arthur’s suggested you stay though, at least for a little while.” Said man looked like he wanted to hit the older man upside the head for adding in that last bit.

Lynnette chewed at her bottom lip as she thought it over. She wasn't expecting him to say so bluntly that they were bad people and that they've _killed_ people. They hadn't hurt them yet, and they had women and children with them. Whatever badness that was _out there_ , the three had yet to experience. Lynnette didn’t want to take the chance of something happening to either of her siblings because she turned down the offer of safety. Even if that safety was will people who openly admit they’ve killed people. The three siblings were in a _completely_ foreign land that _apparently_ was _supposed_ to be the same land they came from. Seeing Mexico on the map the sheriff had given them showed they were in the vicinity of where Texas _should_ be.

“We could really stay with you all? You have the room?” Lynnette asked as she glanced around at the tents scattered throughout the campsite. 

“We’ll find some,” Dutch said with a chuckle. “All I ask is you earn your keep around camp. You know, chores and the like.” Lynnette continued to chew her bottom lip in hesitation.

“Lynn!” Max suddenly shouted. “Lynn!”

“What? Max, why are you yelling?” she asked as she turned to see him holding a newspaper that Hosea _had_ been reading. The older man looked concerned at the alarm on the boy's face. The other two men looked to the oldest for an answer but he simply shrugged.

“ _Lynn_!” Lynnette walked over to Max. 

“What? What’s wrong?” He turned the paper to her. “ _What?_ ” He pointed to the date. Lynnette grabbed the paper and stared. Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn’t hear anything around her but the sound of her own heartbeat. Suddenly everything was making complete sense yet none at all, all at once.

“Something wrong?” Dutch asked as he walked over, a small concerned frown on his face. Lynnette blinked a few times before she looked up at him, just as her vision tunneled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay what do you think? Please let me know how I’m doing. Am I writing everyone well enough? I’m always afraid I’ll make someone out of character…
> 
> I also did my best to avoid typos/mistakes but I might have missed some...


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